One-quarter of Australian households have installed solar

According to the latest research, Australia is currently experiencing a second rooftop solar boom that is being fueled by the tumbling technology costs and volatile retail electricity prices, with almost one quarter of all Australian households having installed solar panels.

In a survey published on Thursday by Roy Morgan, as at March 2017, one in four Australian households (23.2 percent) own a “Home Solar Electric Panel”. And when it comes to uptake, South Australia emerged the strongest at 32.8 per cent; Queensland at 30.2 per cent and Western Australia at 26.6 per cent.

These new figures are in line with the recent data provided by SunWiz, whose findings showed Australian households and businesses were installing rooftop solar panels at a rapid rate never seen since 2012. SunWiz indicated in its May 2017 report that by the end of May, a total capacity of 5.7GW of rooftop solar PV had been installed on 1.7 million households and businesses, capping off a record first five months of solarsystem installations in the country’s history.

The residential solar PV uptake in Western Australia has led to a sharp drop in the state’s scale and peak demand timing, slashing the peak demand by 7.2 per cent, or 265MW this last summer.
However, solar uptake for households in Victoria and New South Wales remains lower. Roy Morgan’s report shows only 21 per cent and 17.7 per cent respectively of households in those states have invested in Solar PV.
On the other end, Tasmania has reported solar penetration nearly the same as that recorded in NSW, with 17.3 percent of households having invested in PV panels.
Roy Morgan research suggests that the rapid rate of solar PV uptake could slow down in the next 12 months, with just 1 per cent or (94,000) of Australian households looking to purchase or replace their solar panels in the next one year.

Thinking of joining the 23.2 percent of smarter Australian’s saving on their electricity? Check out Aussie Solar Group for some great deals for South East Queensland and make the switch to cleaner energy today.

The Author

Darryn Van Hout

I took an interest in the Australian energy sector close to ten years ago and since then have monitored the trends, technologies and direction of the Australian Energy Market. I was drawn to the Australian solar market in 2008 and since then have worked heavily in the field. I am partnered with national and international solar energy companies, from manufacturers of solar panel and inverter technology, online software developers that introduce tools to quote, monitor and manage solar power systems and media organisations who like myself, closely monitor the solar and renewable energy sector.